Broken
by INMH
Summary: Belated prompt fill for tvd hiatus: "Elijah, Rebekah- Post 3x08. She needs her big brother." AU as of 3.12 "The Ties That Bind".


Broken

**Rating:** PG-13/T

**Genre:** Drama/Family

**Summary:** Belated prompt fill for tvd_hiatus: "Elijah, Rebekah- Post 3x08. She needs her big brother." AU as of 3.12 "The Ties That Bind".

**Author's Note:** Filling prompts makes me happeh. :D

**Disclaimer:** I don't own "The Vampire Diaries". It belongs to L.J. Smith/The CW.

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Rebekah knew about the coffins.

She knew where Nik kept them, knew where he would be most likely to move them. She'd once been close enough in his confidence that she was consistently updated as to when he moved them, though obviously that had changed since he'd daggered and then un-daggered her. But Rebekah still knew the old and the typical hiding places, and Nik didn't have any reason to want to hide them from her; maybe Mikael, but not her.

He was far too busy to be with them right now. He'd had his seasons, his occasions where he would just kind of sit and stare at the coffins, totally silent, and for the life of her Rebekah could not figure out what was on her brother's mind. But at the moment Nik was keeping his distance, because Mikael was in town and, as cocky as he was, he was not eager to encounter their father again.

Rebekah pried open the door to the massive truck, the one that they'd shipped the coffins in from Chicago (along with an unconscious Stefan- That had actually been pretty fun). Nik had had no idea that Mikael would be back so soon, that he'd appear out of nowhere again, so maybe, just maybe-

She saw the smooth mahogany of four coffins, and maybe became yes.

There was the coffin they couldn't open, there was Finn, there was Kol, and then there was Elijah. Rebekah could have un-daggered any of them (save the obvious), but only one of her brothers had stood by her and Nik. Two of them had fled following Esther's death, and one had held her and Niklaus's hand and said "Always and forever." It was the same brother that had drifted away from her and Nik following a spat over that whore Katerina, bloody _doppelgangers-_

Rebekah pried open the first coffin: Nope, that was Finn. The second time, she chose right: Elijah's dark hair and solemn face, asleep, was familiar and not. His hair was shorter now. His style hadn't changed, though, because after 1800 all Elijah ever wore was suits.

Without hesitating, she reached into the coffin and yanked the dagger loose from his chest. She didn't realize until the weapon was in her possession that her hands were shaking considerably. But after finding out that Klaus had killed their mother, not Mikael, and that the bloody bastard had been lying to her all of these years while demonizing Mikael (and she still wasn't certain if it was warranted or not, because whether he'd murdered their mother or not Mikael was and always had been an ass)-

Rebekah stared silently at her oldest brother, and let out a growl of frustration when he didn't so much as twitch. It always took a while for them to reboot after being daggered. She wasn't certain how long she had taken.

Rebekah went to the opening of the truck and sat on the edge, stabbing the dagger into the metal and wooden flooring next to her. She drew her knees up to her chest crossed her arms atop them, and glared out into the darkness. She silently _dared_ Nik to come for the coffins, to come looking for her, because she wasn't certain if the dagger would have an effect on him, but a couple dozen stab wounds would hurt like a bitch all the same.

She stewed in her rage, contemplating the revelation, missing her mother, hating Nik for killing her, hating her father for not stopping him, hating herself for being so damn trusting, for not asking questions, planning what she was going to ask Elijah when he woke up because _damn_ if she didn't have a lot of questions for him.

It took maybe forty-five minutes before she heard a cough from behind.

Rebekah stayed still and silent for a moment before climbing to her feet and pacing over to the coffin, arms crossed. The pallor was starting to disappear from Elijah's face, veins receding, hands twitching and small, barely-there noises coming from his chest. A minute passed, then two, and then finally Elijah's eyes flew open, and he was completely back to normal.

The confusion in his eyes must have mirrored hers when she'd first awoken, because the first question you ask is _What happened?_ Followed by _Where am I? _And then finally, the scariest one, _How long was I asleep?_ Rebekah had awoken after a ninety-year nap. She dreaded the day they had to wake Finn, because he'd already been asleep for nine-_hundred_.

"Took you long enough." Rebekah could hear the shakiness and the lividness in her voice, and she didn't care. This wasn't Elena or one of her Salvatore boys, or her little human friends. This was Elijah, and he knew her temper and her anger well. He'd talked her down from tantrums more times than she could easily recount.

Elijah's head whipped towards her at the sound of her voice, and realization dawned quickly on his face. "Rebekah."

Rebekah chewed her lip and tried to stop from crying. "Get up."

He sat up quickly, but it didn't seem to be because she'd ordered him. He looked around, and she knew that he was looking for Klaus. When he'd realized that Nik wasn't there, an even deeper understanding was reflected in his eyes, his posture. He gripped the edge of the coffin and moved to climb out. "Rebekah-"

"Did you know?" She snap-croaked. "Did you know what Nik did? To mother?"

Rebekah desperately wanted to see confusion and curiosity on his face. She wanted to see that he was just as out of the loop, just as deceived as she was. She wanted to believe that she wasn't the only one stupid and blind enough to be duped by Niklaus, especially given how smart Elijah was.

But there was nothing but a strange blank awareness in his eyes, as well as what seemed to be pity.

For her.

Rebekah made a strange, high pitched noise, and just like in the Salvatore household, she sank to the ground. Her voice was shockingly hoarse and soft when she spoke, though. "You knew?"

Elijah shut his eyes. "Father found me not long after I left you and Niklaus. Given Klaus's-" He sucked in a sharp breath. "…Less than empathetic and rather _cold_ temperament, Bekah, I was inclined to believe what father told me." He opened his eyes and looked down at her again. "Niklaus was always disappointed with mother. And you know how he handles those of us who disappoint him." He swallowed audibly. "Mother just wasn't sturdy enough to handle it like the rest of us."

Rebekah was still trying to wrap her mind around the part where everyone but her, even bloody _Elena_ seemed to know. The tears were still hot on her cheeks, new ones streaming down every moment. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Elijah slowly knelt down next to her, avoiding her eyes as he did so. "Would you have believed me? Bekah, you would have killed me if I'd ever made such an accusation." Because the only person closer to her heart than Nik had been their mother. Their mother was their world. Their rock. And as the only daughter, Rebekah had had a very special place in Esther's heart and vice versa.

Rebekah twisted in place for a moment, not knowing what to do with her hands, and another helpless noise tinged with fury clawed its way out of her throat. "How could he _do it?_" Her voice was ragged. "How could he lie, how could he blame father, _how could he kill mother?_" She broke off in a sob, and after a second, Elijah's arms curled around her.

This was old, so old, because a thousand years ago he'd done the same thing when Henrick and then their mother had died. The embrace a protective big brother gave his little sister when she was in pain. The kind he hadn't had to give her in years, because once their family had fractured and split apart she had grown strong and never looked back. But however old they got, however cold-blooded they became, he had known Rebekah in her softest times, and couldn't ignore her pain.

"Oh, Rebekah. I'm so sorry."

Rebekah just whimpered into his shoulder and kept bawling.

He held her as long as she needed him to, as long as he could still hear the hopeless despair in her voice.

When Rebekah had calmed down enough to speak clearly again, her tone was dark, solemn. "Father's in town."

"Is he?"

"Yes. Evidently he's been locked in a tomb in Charlotte for the last twenty years or so." Elijah's brow furrowed, and she cut him off before he could ask. "I have no idea. _I've_ been locked in a coffin since the twenties." Her brother's expression went cold.

"You have?" She nodded stiffly. "You drew Klaus's ire."

"I threatened to leave him."

Elijah shut his eyes, and they didn't need to discuss the why- They both knew how Nik handled rejection.

"Where is he now?"

"Out of town."

"And would I be correct in presuming that Elena Gilbert and the Salvatore brothers are in the midst of a plot to bring him back to his death?"

Rebekah shrugged, and the moodiness on her face was almost reminiscent to the kind she'd displayed as a human girl. "I guess."

"I believe we have some things to discuss with them, then."

Elijah had to know that the next few days would be a living hell, but he'd always been good with dealing with those.

-End

And then, through the magical healing power of love, Mikael and Klaus made up and nobody died. THAT IS MY HEAD-CANON, AND THAT'S WHAT I'M STICKING TO.


End file.
